The desert bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis nelsoni) is a subspecies of bighorn sheep that occurs in the desert Southwest regions of the United States and in the northern regions of Mexico. The trinomial of this species commemorates the American naturalist Edward William Nelson (1855–1934). The characteristics and behavior of desert bighorn sheep generally follow those of other bighorn sheep, except for adaptation to the lack of water in the desert: bighorn sheep can go for extended periods of time without drinking water.
Populations of the desert bighorn sheep declined drastically with European colonization of the American Southwest beginning in the 16th century. As of 2004, desert bighorn sheep numbers are extremely low, although the overall population trend has increased since 1960. These declines were followed by a period of population stabilization that was ascribed to conservation measures.
Read more about Desert Bighorn Sheep: Characteristics, Conservation Status and Trends
Famous quotes containing the words desert and/or sheep:
“What e’er you are
That in this desert inaccessible,
Under the shade of melancholy boughs,
Lose and neglect the creeping hours of time.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“The metaphor of the king as the shepherd of his people goes back to ancient Egypt. Perhaps the use of this particular convention is due to the fact that, being stupid, affectionate, gregarious, and easily stampeded, the societies formed by sheep are most like human ones.”
—Northrop Frye (b. 1912)